As the country observes the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the events of that day remain a defining moment in modern American history.

On September 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. Two struck the World Trade Center towers in New York City, one hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back. The coordinated assault killed 2,977 victims, including first responders.

President George W. Bush addressed the nation that evening and framed the attacks as an act of war. His administration launched the global war on terrorism. U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 to remove the Taliban regime that had sheltered al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden was later killed in a 2011 raid in Pakistan.

The response also included creating the Department of Homeland Security and passing the Patriot Act, which expanded surveillance and law enforcement tools to prevent future attacks. These measures strengthened border security and intelligence sharing.

In 2003, the United States led a coalition into Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein, citing concerns over weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq reshaped U.S. foreign policy for more than two decades.

Ingrained in American Culture

A poll released by Ipsos ahead of the anniversary asked respondents how the attacks have affected American life and how safety measures are handled globally.

According to the poll, Americans are split on how safe the country is from foreign terrorist attacks compared to before 9/11. Roughly a third (36%) say the country is about as safe as it was before 9/11, while 32% say the U.S. is safer and 29% say it is less safe.

Although many Americans today are too young to have experienced or understood the event, the poll found that most Americans remember where they were when they heard about the attacks, and about two-thirds say it impacted the country “a great deal.”

Separate polling from Gallup finds that about 3 in 10 U.S. adults say the attacks permanently changed how they live their lives.

Fears of terrorist attacks have dropped to around 37% according to the poll, with attribution stemming from how long ago the attacks occurred.

That is unchanged from the 36% recorded on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in 2021, but below the 45% from the fifth anniversary.

Concern was much higher than now in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. On the night of Sept. 11, 2001, 58% of Americans said they were worried about being a victim of terrorism.

Despite the widespread impact, the Ipsos poll finds relatively few Americans will be marking the anniversary in some way. Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults plan to do something to commemorate Friday’s 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

However, the Ipsos poll found that recipients considered the 9/11 attacks as the most impactful event to occur in their lifetimes.

At 47%, adults found the attacks more impactful than the COVID-19 pandemic (31%), Barack Obama’s presidency (16%), Donald Trump’s presidency (15%), and space expeditions (12%).

Services Held Today

A memorial ceremony is being held at the World Trade Center site in New York and at the Pentagon to honor the victims killed in the September 11 attacks.

Notable political figures attended the event, including former White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who expressed deep pain still felt today.

“Those of us in authority on that day did not see the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack of 9/11.” Rice added, “I will always carry deep personal remorse for the pain that you, the families of the fallen, still feel, and for the trauma that our country endured.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave remarks during the ceremony, turning attention to the ongoing conflict in Iran, seeking to connect it to the 2001 attacks on America.

“Over the past six months, we have laid waste to the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism,” Hegseth said. “Our warriors have fought an Islamic theocracy that has wished us death for nearly half a century, that cheered on 9/11, a regime that has sponsored terrorist attacks against Americans for decades, killing thousands, including our comrades in Iraq, in Afghanistan.”

President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Pentagon, where he recalled American unity following the attacks.

“In those harrowing days after the attacks, we saw the authentic spirit of our nation,” Trump said at the Pentagon ceremony. “We were all New Yorkers that day. Every one of us. We were all New Yorkers. We were all family.”

The president gave notice to American troops fighting in Iran, saying, “We salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never ever have a nuclear weapon.”

Real Truth Media’s Mark Robinson spoke on the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, where he reflected on how the event permanently changed American history.

The full episode is available now.